Menu: Pork Chops, Applesauce, Spinach and Baked Potatoes

No cookbooks to credit with this dinner tonight. Definitely one I can do in my sleep almost!

In order of cooking:

Baked potatoes

Scrub, pierce with a fork a few times, bake on an oven rack at 350-400F depending on how much time you have and how large the potatoes are.  My medium sized ones were done in about 50 minutes at 375.  Served with butter and sour cream and some of the bacon (see spinach).

Pork chops

Salt and pepper, then dredge in flour. Cook in a bit of butter and oil over medium high heat until cooked through, turning once or twice. These ones were thick, over an inch so took about 5 minutes per side. You could be done there or you can make a simple sauce by adding 1/2 cup or so of apple juice or cider to the pan and cook, stirring, to scrape up all the good bits. Reduce by half then add a sliver of butter, stir until melted and pour this over the chops.

Spinach

I cooked a few slices of bacon early on, laid them on paper towels and drained off all but a tablespoon of the fat. Crumble or chop the bacon at some point. Use some at the table for the potatoes if you want.  Rinse about a pound of spinach, mince a few cloves of garlic. Heat the bacon fat and add the spinach (with the water left on the leaves), the garlic, some salt and pepper.  Could add some red pepper flakes but I didn’t.  Cook, covered, about 5 minutes until wilted and then remove the lid and let any remaining water evaporate. Squeeze half a fresh lemon on it or pour a spoonful of balsamic or other vinegar on it. Top with the bacon you cooked earlier.

Applesauce: from a jar, sorry. 😉  Poured in a bowl and served.  But if I wanted to cook from scratch I would core a few apples and slice them thinly, then cook in butter and/or bacon fat. With onions is even better.  Without onions, top with some brown sugar once the apple slices are softened.  With cooked onions, they’re sweet enough as is.

I’ve got 1 and 1/2  leftover pork chops to go into some fried rice or salad or burritos for lunch or dinner another day.  Or a grilled sandwich. Might be packed for school or eaten at home.